Things to do in Irvine

Nature · The former MCAS El Toro, central-east Irvine

A very large park being built on a decommissioned Marine Corps air station — sports complex, ice rink, Wild Rivers water park, a preserved runway, and a tethered orange helium balloon that lifts you 120 metres over the county.

Local tip: The balloon ride is free and books out; go on a clear weekday morning when you can see Catalina. The preserved hangars and runway edges are the most interesting part and almost nobody walks them.

Neighborhood · South Irvine, where the 5 and the 405 meet

An open-air shopping, dining and cinema complex built around a Ferris wheel and a carousel, and the closest thing Irvine has to a town square.

Local tip: It is genuinely pleasant on a warm evening and genuinely rammed at weekends. Park in the north structure and walk in. The best food is not in the main ring — it is in the surrounding plazas along Barranca and Alton.

Food · Central Irvine, near Alton and Jamboree

A single plaza carrying one of the densest concentrations of Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, bakeries and boba shops in the United States, with an H Mart and a 99 Ranch nearby.

Local tip: Go hungry and go early — the queues at the best places start before six. This is the real food geography of Irvine, and it is a far better introduction to the city than the Spectrum.

Nature · Southern Irvine, behind Turtle Rock and Shady Canyon

Thousands of acres of protected coastal sage scrub, oak canyon and grassland dedicated as permanent open space when the city was planned — hiking and mountain-bike trails straight out of the back of the villages.

Local tip: Bommer Canyon's cattle camp area needs no permit on the open trails but some routes are docent-only, so check the city's schedule first. Go early: there is no shade and the canyon holds heat. Autumn red flag days close it entirely.

Culture · Central-west Irvine, around Aldrich Park

A radial 1960s campus built around Aldrich Park, a 20-hectare circular garden at its centre, with a serious modernist and brutalist architectural collection radiating out from it.

Local tip: Aldrich Park is open to the public, free, and the best green space in central Irvine — a full loop takes twenty minutes and almost no non-students use it. The Anteater Recreation Center's climbing wall and the Claire Trevor arts events are also open to the city.

Neighborhood · Central Irvine, around Barranca and Culver

The 1970s village that defined the Irvine template — two artificial lakes with beach clubs, a covered bridge, a network of paths and greenbelts that let children reach school without crossing a road.

Local tip: The lakes are private to Woodbridge residents, which is the point and worth knowing before you rent nearby expecting access. The public greenbelt paths, though, run the length of the village and are the pleasantest walk in central Irvine.